After seeing romanesco on menus all winter, and eating it out at restaurants, we decided it was high time to cook with the beautiful, funky-looking vegetable ourselves, and then share the recipe with you. Romanesco is in the same family as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and tastes quite similar to cauliflower. It cooks up the same way too, tasting great roasted, steamed and even blanched. With a practically neon-green color and spiral, almost hypnotic florets, it’s no wonder that this fascinating ingredient is capturing the attention of chefs. It’s just fun to look at which makes it fun to cook!
In this spirit, we thought it was only fitting to pay romanesco the ultimate compliment: dressing it in a warm bacon vinaigrette. Here’s what we did. After a quick dip boiling water, we transferred the hot florets to a bowl filled with the rendered fat of bacon, lightly browned shallots, tangy red wine vinegar and sweet-tart dried cranberries. We let the whole mixture mingle together and then we stirred in chopped walnuts and crumbled bacon for crunch and served it warm.
We found that the deep, smoky flavor of bacon and the nutty walnuts complimented the earthy romanesco, while the cranberries and vinegar provided a nice foil. Visually, we liked how the romanesco retained its vibrant hue and crisp-tender bite. We hope you like it too!
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon
- 2 tbsp. olive oil, or as needed
- 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
- ½ cup dried unsweetened cranberries
- 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 medium heads romanesco cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets (about 5 cups)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup toasted chopped walnuts
- Bring large pot of boiling salted water to boil.
- Meanwhile, in medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon until fat is rendered and bacon is crisp, about 7 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer bacon to paper towels to drain, reserving fat in skillet. Crumble bacon and set aside. To skillet, add 2 tbsp. olive oil, or enough olive oil to yield 5 tbsp. combined bacon fat and olive oil. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Transfer shallots and bacon fat-olive oil mixture to large heat-proof bowl. Add cranberries and red wine vinegar; stir to combine and set aside.
- Cook romanesco in boiling, salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer romanesco to bowl with reserved bacon vinaigrette and toss until thoroughly coated; season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover bowl and let romanesco sit until it absorbs flavors of dressing, tossing occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- Mix in chopped walnuts and reserved crumbled bacon before serving.